What a tremendous range of books to which you’ve given 5 stars! It demonstrates the breadth and depth of your reading interests, which is so wonderful. I loved seeing The Luminaries here, which is one of my favorite modern novels. Elena Knows is one of my more recent five-star reads. I also wish Goodreads offered the option for half stars! This is a fun idea and I’d love to see a video of your lowest rated books!
I really want to get to Elena Knows soon. It’s only available through ebook at my library and I don’t like that as much, but it does make me want to try it that way anyway… Hah loved this! I have a feeling if I made one it would be really long too, I’d want to expand on everything. And I’ve got a lot of 5 stars as well. Even just this year lol
So many great books. I really need to read The Eighth Life (26:00) as I live in Georgia, I have the Georgian version but not the English translation. Wolf Hall, Frankenstein and Rebecca have all been five stars for me too (I am quite generous with 5 stars, around one in five books I read gets a five star rating).
This was fun to watch. I might try doing this with my Goodreads account too. Like you, I'm generous with my 5-star ratings. Two that you talked about are also in my top favourites: The Luminaries and Artful.
Only two books so far this year have gained 5 stars from me Foster by Claire Keegan Devotion by Hannah Kent Every other book is mainly 3/4 stars. 3 books got 2 stars. My best reading month was February. 9 books read. All other months I struggled to finish 3/4 books. Things can only get better. I’ve got some great reads lined up for June #lgbtqi readathon. Elena Knows is on my kindle TBR. ☘️👋🍀👍📖☕️📕
Currently reading The Love Songs Of W.E.B Du Bois. I have only read a little bit but loved what I read so far. Completely agree Isabel Wilkerson’s books are both stunning 📚❤️Great video as always 😊
Delightful. I too (somewhat surprisingly) loved Mr Splitfoot. I had a memorable exchange of tweets with Samantha Hunt after finishing, bringing to her attention that a mystery novel which a character in the novel was reading had a different-a completely and utterly different-title in the ebook compared to the audiobook. She wasn’t sure whether to believe me, and she intimated that both titles had some deep personal meaning to her that only one or two other people knew about so she was quite freaked out that the alternate title made its way into the audiobook . I let the matter drop at that point, but have been curious about it ever since. Her new nonfiction book about reading, The Unwritten Book, sounds pretty interesting!
these are always fun to do and watch :-) i almost started rebecca the other day... tbh ratings of 3.8 / 3.9 on GR for classics and lit fiction are quite high (on the contrary memoirs often have crazy high avg ratings)
Rebecca was one of my five star books this year too. I hadn´t seen the film, but did watch the Hitchcock version after. I am curious what you would think about The cook of Castamar once it is translated in english. That was a book that really moved me and I could not start in a new book for a while. I love your five star books. I read Wuthering Heights this year, but didn´t rate it that high (three stars).
That was interesting Eric although I think we all use the star rating differently - I am curmudgeonly and only 10% of my books get five. That said, I did give 5 to Elena Knows and Artful. And it does feel odd rating classics - I finished Paradise Lost last week and just sat bemused trying to give it some stars (ended up giving 4 as the last 2 parts were a bit anticlimactic but who am I to judge!!). And as a part time stats pedant the ‘average’ isn’t a great indication of the goodreads response as a few 1s will drag it down - I’d go for the mode - which star rating got the highest number of votes?
I just reread To The Lighthouse, written/published 1926/7. I hadn't read it since the 1970's. Still merits 5 stars IMO :^) Just downloaded ebook of Ernaux' Simple Passion and requested Elena Knows. Grateful for your suggestions!
I’m one of your tribe who always rounds up stars and most books get a 4 or 5 but then again I am very picky about the books I read and almost always go for high-rated or prize-shortlisted ones. I know how much time energy and thought a writer gives their pride and joy novels and don’t like to be mean
This is so interesting. Maybe it's because of my educational background, where I live you never get full marks for a piece of writing (an essay), so this probably taints how I score books but I basically would never give a book 5 stars because to me that means perfection and nothing is ever 100% perfect. Obviously with goodreads you can't really give anything a 4. something, which doesn't help and is also why I wouldn't be able use it. For me, I could give a book a 3 star rating and that would still be pretty decent, something that's enjoyable and that I could recommend to someone. Anything that's 4 or higher would be exceptional. I only really check 3 star reviews on goodreads because I feel those are usually a bit more balanced than the 5 stars or the 1 stars especially with books that are very hyped. Onto the books, I haven't read many of them I have to say. I personally love Frankenstein, one of my favourite books of all time. Orlando I really enjoyed as well. Didn't make it past page 30 of Wolf Hall even though I had to read it for a class😅 too many Thomas'. Normal People I really liked and the rating would be fair to me in my rating system. Americanah was enjoyable. I should actually get to reading authors like Baldwin and du Maurier 😅 Really liked this, would be interested in seeing the lowest rated books as well!
I adore wuthering heights but as far as originality is concerned I think that Shirley by Charlotte Bronte is even more original or rather strange. It is supposedly written in honor of Emily.
I don't go with GoodReads that much as I find the reviews given there are overly harsh. I ran and got my copy of Jean Rhys, the complete novels and am going to read Good Morning, Midnight, next.
The Bell ❤️ Absolute 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I loved the Black Prince too! I'm really keen to read more Iris Murdoch. Wuthering Heights is also a 5 rating from me.
I’m very generous with my five star reviews as well. If I loved the ride, it is most likely going to get five stars from me, whether it’s literary fiction or a great thriller. I get confused when folks give three stars and say that’s a good rating. That’s a ‘C’!
Yes, absolutely! I make the same equivalent with grades. Of course, I’m the UK grading is much harsher in schools where top marks are virtually unattainable so many British people I know consider 3-4 stars to be the most any book should get. But I feel differently.
What a tremendous range of books to which you’ve given 5 stars! It demonstrates the breadth and depth of your reading interests, which is so wonderful. I loved seeing The Luminaries here, which is one of my favorite modern novels. Elena Knows is one of my more recent five-star reads. I also wish Goodreads offered the option for half stars! This is a fun idea and I’d love to see a video of your lowest rated books!
i just picked up simple passion this weekend!! orlando is also on my list for this summer :)
I really want to get to Elena Knows soon. It’s only available through ebook at my library and I don’t like that as much, but it does make me want to try it that way anyway…
Hah loved this! I have a feeling if I made one it would be really long too, I’d want to expand on everything. And I’ve got a lot of 5 stars as well. Even just this year lol
So many great books. I really need to read The Eighth Life (26:00) as I live in Georgia, I have the Georgian version but not the English translation. Wolf Hall, Frankenstein and Rebecca have all been five stars for me too (I am quite generous with 5 stars, around one in five books I read gets a five star rating).
This was fun to watch. I might try doing this with my Goodreads account too. Like you, I'm generous with my 5-star ratings. Two that you talked about are also in my top favourites: The Luminaries and Artful.
Yes, it’s fun to do and those are two stellar novels.
Loved this video. My wishlist got longer now..
I agree with you about Ogawa''s book . Really it is so meaninful !
Only two books so far this year have gained 5 stars from me
Foster by Claire Keegan
Devotion by Hannah Kent
Every other book is mainly 3/4 stars.
3 books got 2 stars.
My best reading month was February. 9 books read. All other months I struggled to finish 3/4 books. Things can only get better. I’ve got some great reads lined up for June #lgbtqi readathon. Elena Knows is on my kindle TBR.
☘️👋🍀👍📖☕️📕
Currently reading The Love Songs Of W.E.B Du Bois. I have only read a little bit but loved what I read so far. Completely agree Isabel Wilkerson’s books are both stunning 📚❤️Great video as always 😊
Big thanks for your list,Eric.
Delightful. I too (somewhat surprisingly) loved Mr Splitfoot. I had a memorable exchange of tweets with Samantha Hunt after finishing, bringing to her attention that a mystery novel which a character in the novel was reading had a different-a completely and utterly different-title in the ebook compared to the audiobook. She wasn’t sure whether to believe me, and she intimated that both titles had some deep personal meaning to her that only one or two other people knew about so she was quite freaked out that the alternate title made its way into the audiobook . I let the matter drop at that point, but have been curious about it ever since.
Her new nonfiction book about reading, The Unwritten Book, sounds pretty interesting!
What a curious exchange to have with her! And I hadn’t heard about that new nonfiction book. Thank you!
these are always fun to do and watch :-) i almost started rebecca the other day... tbh ratings of 3.8 / 3.9 on GR for classics and lit fiction are quite high (on the contrary memoirs often have crazy high avg ratings)
Rebecca was one of my five star books this year too. I hadn´t seen the film, but did watch the Hitchcock version after. I am curious what you would think about The cook of Castamar once it is translated in english. That was a book that really moved me and I could not start in a new book for a while. I love your five star books. I read Wuthering Heights this year, but didn´t rate it that high (three stars).
The Eighth Life is definitely my favourite! Thanks
That was interesting Eric although I think we all use the star rating differently - I am curmudgeonly and only 10% of my books get five. That said, I did give 5 to Elena Knows and Artful. And it does feel odd rating classics - I finished Paradise Lost last week and just sat bemused trying to give it some stars (ended up giving 4 as the last 2 parts were a bit anticlimactic but who am I to judge!!).
And as a part time stats pedant the ‘average’ isn’t a great indication of the goodreads response as a few 1s will drag it down - I’d go for the mode - which star rating got the highest number of votes?
Did you go to Goddard College, Eric? I thought about going there for an MFA in Writing years ago.
I just reread To The Lighthouse, written/published 1926/7. I hadn't read it since the 1970's. Still merits 5 stars IMO :^) Just downloaded ebook of Ernaux' Simple Passion and requested Elena Knows. Grateful for your suggestions!
I dreamed I was at Manderlay last night. What a wonderful first sentence for a book. I just reread it and enjoyed it just as much.
I’m one of your tribe who always rounds up stars and most books get a 4 or 5 but then again I am very picky about the books I read and almost always go for high-rated or prize-shortlisted ones. I know how much time energy and thought a writer gives their pride and joy novels and don’t like to be mean
I've just sent off for Good Morning, Midnight!
This is so interesting. Maybe it's because of my educational background, where I live you never get full marks for a piece of writing (an essay), so this probably taints how I score books but I basically would never give a book 5 stars because to me that means perfection and nothing is ever 100% perfect. Obviously with goodreads you can't really give anything a 4. something, which doesn't help and is also why I wouldn't be able use it. For me, I could give a book a 3 star rating and that would still be pretty decent, something that's enjoyable and that I could recommend to someone. Anything that's 4 or higher would be exceptional. I only really check 3 star reviews on goodreads because I feel those are usually a bit more balanced than the 5 stars or the 1 stars especially with books that are very hyped.
Onto the books, I haven't read many of them I have to say. I personally love Frankenstein, one of my favourite books of all time. Orlando I really enjoyed as well. Didn't make it past page 30 of Wolf Hall even though I had to read it for a class😅 too many Thomas'. Normal People I really liked and the rating would be fair to me in my rating system. Americanah was enjoyable. I should actually get to reading authors like Baldwin and du Maurier 😅 Really liked this, would be interested in seeing the lowest rated books as well!
I adore wuthering heights but as far as originality is concerned I think that Shirley by Charlotte Bronte is even more original or rather strange. It is supposedly written in honor of Emily.
Rebecca would not have agreed to this choice of books!!!
I don't go with GoodReads that much as I find the reviews given there are overly harsh. I ran and got my copy of Jean Rhys, the complete novels and am going to read Good Morning, Midnight, next.
The Bell ❤️ Absolute 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved the Black Prince too! I'm really keen to read more Iris Murdoch. Wuthering Heights is also a 5 rating from me.
I’m very generous with my five star reviews as well. If I loved the ride, it is most likely going to get five stars from me, whether it’s literary fiction or a great thriller. I get confused when folks give three stars and say that’s a good rating. That’s a ‘C’!
Yes, absolutely! I make the same equivalent with grades. Of course, I’m the UK grading is much harsher in schools where top marks are virtually unattainable so many British people I know consider 3-4 stars to be the most any book should get. But I feel differently.
When I finally read the “Epic of Bookers” The Luminaries, I plan to do a epic video on the book.